Chapel Choir complete memorable USA tour

The Chapel Choir returned last week from a highly successful and most memorable trip to the east coast of the United States of America. This follows another prosperous year at school, where this auditioned choir sing at weekly chapel services in addition to fulfilling various concert engagements.

The choir departed from Manchester airport on Monday 8^th July, a couple of days after singing so beautifully at Speech Day, and their first concert was in Boston later that day – at the Old South Church. It was a most encouraging start to the tour, with the pupils overcoming jet lag and extremely warm conditions to perform a programme of pieces that they have particularly enjoyed over the past year. Additionally, our Head of Choral Music, Mr Seymour, had composed a new piece especially for the tour: ‘I will lift up mine eyes’ is a stunning piece that we all enjoyed performing immensely. From there on, further performances in prestigious venues such as St Patrick’s Cathedral in NYC, and the National City Christian Church in Washington DC, punctuated a trip that also provided the opportunity for sightseeing, leisure time (Six Flags amusement park being a particular highlight) and indeed reflection (9/11 memorial and museum).

The choir go on an international tour every two years, with the musical, social and educational benefits of such trips being of enormous benefit to our choristers. Recent destinations have included Italy, France & Belgium, and it was always our intention that we wanted to provide as rich a variety of experiences as possible, throughout a chorister’s time in the choir. By travelling to United States of America, horizons were inevitably broadened, memories were created, and the musical cohesion of this ensemble was strengthened yet further.